News: User’s Manual

Five Tips To Get Media Savvy.

Understanding news isn’t a standard subject taught in the American school system, and that leaves an incredibly weak link in America’s efforts for an informed electorate. The reality is: If you don’t know how to use news, the news will use you.

News colors your outlook and shapes your opinions, that’s why it’s important to know how to use news to make you smart and savvy. In fact, one of the reasons it’s so important to have a variety of news voices within a market is to enable the news consumer to compare and contrast information, which develops and sharpens deductive reasoning skills. Obviously, the earlier a person becomes news literate, the better. By exposing people to current events and information on how our planet is advancing, news not only creates critical thinkers, it creates world-class citizens. As long as it’s used correctly. To that end, here’s five easy steps you can start using today to becoming media savvy:

5. Be brand loyal to condiments, not to news organizations.
If variety is the spice of life, then variety is what you should seek in your news consumption. Getting all your news from one source is like using salt, and only salt, on all your food. You need to incorporate a variety of news outlets into your life to allow you to experience the different flavors, textures and aromas of life. Create your own media mix of television, newspapers, cable shows, radio and internet news, and news magazines. Make sure they come from different sources. For example, reading The New York Times in print and online is not a mix of media: it’s coming from the same source. For example, read The New York Times, check out another daily online, subscribe to the Economist, watch your local nightly news… get it?

4. Don’t overdose on fast-food news.
You know a big problem in America is that we don’t exercise enough. That applies to our brains, too: An overwhelming amount of Americans — more than 80 percent — get their news from watching television. Why is that bad, you ask? Here’s why: the formula for television news is to give you a top-line summary of what just happened. In short, it’s fast-food for your brain. Imagine what living on Big Macs would do to your body. Now you know what TV news can do to your brain. For a sensible diet, you need to incorporate newspapers and news magazines into your life. While television news tells you what just happened, newspapers and magazines tell you why it happened, and why you should care.

3. Watch your posture… and theirs.
Since the advent of cable in 1980, we’ve seen a rise in agenda-driven news outlets. And that’s OK, as long as you know that what you’re reading, watching or listening to leans a particular way. For instance, CNN leans left, so the Fox News Channel was created as the antidote. Incorporate a little of the left leaning with a little of the right leaning and — guess what — you stand up straight. And, if you want the view from outside, check out the BBC. Looking for the view from the inside? Add PBS.

2. Beware homogenization.
Maybe you’ve heard the saying: Homogenization is good for milk, bad for media. It’s true. You want to incorporate as many independent media voices into your life as possible, so they expose you to as many different facts, sources, outlooks and opinions as possible. If you’ve been feeling a little vanilla, shake up your life by changing some of your news sources. Let the world be delivered to you in ways that educate, inspire and provoke.

1. Think for yourself.
As you know by now, not all news is created equal. And not all news within the news is the same. For instance, a news article should be devoid of the reporter’s opinion, but it may be filled with the opinions of quoted sources. A newspaper column, on the other hand, gives the reporter a chance to air his or her particular viewpoint. Knowing the difference between a news story and a column is crucial, because one informs while the other seeks to persuade. Another place where it’s OK for opinions appear in a newspaper: on the editorial page and the page opposite the editorial page (known as the op.ed. page). In the world of television, talk shows are the equivalent of newspaper columns and editorials. Since a lot of talk shows look like news programs, the trick here is to know what you’re watching.

Sometimes it’s necessary to do a bit of research to find out what you’re watching or reading, but in the long run, it’s worth it. Believe it or not, you’ll save yourself time, because you’ll know what to eliminate from your media diet. And you’ll come to appreciate how using news appropriately puts your world into focus.